As If Time Stood Still
by Esmeia
Summary: Alvin's life comes to a screeching halt when he contracts a rare and largely unknown disease. Too afraid to tell his loved ones, he keeps it hidden and decides to suffer alone. But he soon realizes that he is unable to leave her behind... CGI / Alvittany.
1. Chapter 1

**As If Time Stood Still**

**Chapter 1: Paranoia**

"_Paranoia turns everything into poison, devours its host, then salivates the people around it." ~ John B. Bejo._

XOXOXOXOXO

_Author's Note: This is a request from the great **Amon23**! What an honor, dude._

_This will be a longer story, so I'll be working on this alongside my Simon x Jeanette story as much as I can. Hope you enjoy it so far!_

_XOXOXOXOXO_

"_ALVIIINNNNN!"_

"Uh-oh," Alvin said, biting his lower lip. He was sitting in his bedroom, enjoying some time to himself while watching television. Simon had taken Jeanette out on a date, Eleanor was tutoring Theodore in math, and Brittany was too busy chatting on the phone with her friends to give him the time of day. In all honesty, it had been a very peaceful day without Alvin doing anything wrong! Standing up and preparing his best puppy-dog eyes, Alvin scurried over to the door just as Dave appeared on the landing. Alvin poked out his lip for good measure, just in case. "I swear, Dave, I didn't mean it –"

"Save it, Alvin," Dave said flatly, folding his arms. "I've been around you too long to be fooled by that."

"Darn," Alvin grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "So... what did I do this time?"

"Your teacher just called. You're failing your Lit. class," Dave said crossly.

Alvin sighed. Oh, how he _hated_ school. The only class he truly looked forward to was Gym, and that was mostly to train and show off to the ladies! No mental strain required.

"You know how serious your studies are."

"I know, Dave. But school's just not my thing! It's for brainiacs like Simon and Jeanette," Alvin said, laughing heartily. Dave's stern expression, however, told him that this was no laughing matter. "Come on, Dave! I'll do better, I promise. Okay?"

"That's what you always say," Dave sighed, shaking his head. Alvin rolled his eyes. It seemed like he was getting the same old lecture more often nowadays. "Do I have to get you a tutor like I did for Theodore? There's nothing wrong with asking for help, you know."

"I don't need help. I can do it on my own," Alvin said stubbornly, tail frizzing up defensively. He refused to have someone tell him what to do. Besides, he was no dummy! If he put his mind to it, he was sure he could do it just fine by himself. "I promise, Dave. Just give me one more chance!"

"_Fine_, Alvin," Dave relented, unfolding his arms. "But I better see improvement by the next progress report, or you're going to have to cut back on some things."

"Yeah, yeah, got it," Alvin said quickly, scurrying back into his room. "I won't let you down, Dave!"

Closing the door behind him, Alvin settled back in front of the television. Who said he had to work on that right away?

Currently, some sappy love drama was about to premier. _No way._

He looked around for the remote control, eventually spotting it sitting on top of their bunk bed. Walking over to the ladder, he began climbing the side of the triple bed with ease. Along the way he began to do extravagant jumps and flips, the thrill of his own stunts giving way to carelessness. Before he knew it, his foot slipped and he went toppling down and onto the floor with a sickening thud. Cursing under his breath, he clutched at his foot in agony.

"God, that hurts," he hissed, slowly letting go of his foot to inspect it. He had fallen onto one of Theodore's toys, a sharp-edged square robot. Kicking it away furiously, he inspected the gash in his foot. The pain was subsiding steadily, but it still throbbed and pumped out fresh blood onto the carpet below. "Great, I can just here Dave now, complaining about the stain," he chuckled.

Hopping on one foot, he made his way towards the bathroom. Gingerly climbing on top of the sink, he turned on the cold water valve. Tenderly pushing his foot under the cold stream, he audibly sighed in relief as it cooled his heated flesh. He watched as the blood went down the drain. There seemed... to be an awful _lot_ of it, for only a small wound. Shrugging, Alvin dismissed his worries and turned off the faucet, drying his foot with a piece of paper towel. Satisfied that it was clean for now, he climbed down. As he landed on the bathroom floor, he found that it was still bleeding, as if it was a fresh cut...

"What in the world?" Alvin said slowly.

Now concerned, Alvin cleaned it a second time. Yet it still bled on steadily, for several minutes after. Soon, he was forced to stay sitting in the sink and let the blood drain out. Finally, after seven minutes, the bleeding stopped. Alvin quickly bandaged it up tight and walked out of the bathroom. There stood Theodore and Eleanor, playing a game in front of the television. How dare they just barge in and muscle in on his "me time"?

"Hey! I was watching T.V here!" Alvin complained, glaring at the two youngest chipmunks. Eleanor simply blinked at him and Theodore giggled. "Ah, whatever. I guess you guys are done with homework now?"

"Yup, finally," Theodore said. His green eyes soon locked onto the bandage wrapped around Alvin's left foot. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Oh, it was just a little fall," Alvin said, smiling embarassedly. "I guess I wasn't watching where I was going. No big deal."

"You were in there for a long time, though," Eleanor said worriedly.

How long had they been there? Alvin shook his head, waving his paw around dismissively.

"Really, it's just a scratch," Alvin said. But Theodore and Eleanor looked at each other, obviously not sure what to believe. "I just wanted to make sure it didn't get – er – infected, that's all."

"Well, okay..." Theodore said slowly. He shrugged his shoulders, dropping the issue. "You wanna play with us?"

"Sure, sounds fun," Alvin replied, sitting down beside Theodore and picking up a spare controller.

_It'll take my mind off of that, at least..._

XOXOXOXOXO

Later, when everything was quiet and all the lights went out, Alvin quietly sneaked out of bed. He carefully slid down the metal bars supporting the bed, careful not to wake his snoozing brothers. He then tiptoed out of the room, past the Chipettes' and Dave's room, and downstairs into the living room. Booting up the computer, Alvin sat in front of the keyboard and waited for the desktop to load. Once ready, he double clicked the Firefox icon and immediately went to Google, typing in the keywords "bleeding for longer than usual." Hey, give him a break, he didn't know all that medical stuff!

Why was he doing this? Alvin got into tons of trouble all the time, often resulting in cuts, bruises, and other small injuries. But he was usually on his feet within minutes. But this time was different. Something inside him told him this was a matter he should investigate. Normally, he would ask Dave or Simon, but he didn't want to worry them over nothing. Lord knew they could blow things way out of proportion at times...

"Ah! Bingo," Alvin whistled, scrolling through the various search results.

To his horror, he realized most of them were diseases or infections. He was fairly certain he didn't contract any infections, considering how quickly he cleaned the cut. But a _disease?_ He was as strong as an ox and rarely got sick! Not even the flu, for years!

Was it really possible this was something serious...?

Alvin shut down the computer and walked back to his room, embarrassed by his own wild imagination and paranoia. What were the chances he had something like that? One in a million! It was only a simple cut. Who knows, maybe it was deeper than it looked and he was just surprised by how much he bled out.

"Yeah, that's it," Alvin said confidently, snuggling back underneath his crimson bedsheets. Laughing at himself, he snuggled into his pillow. "What am I thinking? Worrying myself over nothing... starting to sound like Dave..."

Yet, still, the terrible thought would not leave him in peace.

XOXOXOXOXO

_Author's Note: First chapter done! This next few chapters will come along soon!_

_**Amon23**, I hope you liked the introductory chapter! I promise the next one will be more interesting and set more things up._

_See you next time._


	2. Chapter 2

**As If Time Stood Still**

**Chapter 2**

"_I miss the times I used to wake up from nightmares, and not into them." – Tuval K._

XOXOXOXOXOXO

_Author's Note: First off, sorry for the long pause. Had a massive writer's block, not for the whole story, but just for this particular chapter. XD_

_Anyway, thanks for all the kind reviews! I promise the next chapter will come sooner._

_XOXOXOXOXOXO_

"You're it!"

"Ha ha, looks like you're not as fast as you thought, huh, Alvin?"

Alvin smirked and pounced after Eleanor, but she easily dodged and put distance between them. Frustrated, he ran with fresh determination after the blonde Chipette, but she was just too fast and clever. After a few minutes, he found himself panting and gasping for air, hands on his knees. Eleanor blew a raspberry at him, earning herself a glare from the red-clad male standing a few feet away.

"You'll never catch anyone moving like that," she teased, obviously in a lighthearted manner. But Alvin's anger only grew at the taunt. He despised being teased, no matter the situation.

"Says you!" he grumbled, suddenly making a beeline towards an unsuspecting Jeanette.

Jeanette screamed and just barely avoided being tagged. She galloped away from him as fast as her legs could carry her, but the more athletic chipmunk was soon closing in on her.

"T-That's not fair! You know I'm not good at this game!" she complained, as usual.

"Too bad," he laughed, just inches away from certain victory. Jeanette unexpectedly darted to the left, towards a thick bush. He grunted in annoyance and resumed his pursuit. There was no way he was going to let _Jeanette_ outrun him. That would be just too embarrassing! "Just give it up, Jeanette! Make it easier on everyone."

Jeanette didn't respond as she dived through the thick foliage. The others laughed and followed the pair to watch the chase, keeping a safe distance. Alvin was hot on her heels as he moved fluidly through the leaves and branches. It was totally useless to try and outrun Alvin Seville.

A stabbing, sharp pain hit his left side. He ignored it, but it was soon joined by more painful punctures coming from all directions. Tumbling to a stop, Alvin was horrified to see his surrounding sprout sharp, dagger-like thorns all around him. Another ripped into his chest, then his foot, his arm, his tail, his stomach...

Gurgling out a small scream, Alvin forced his body to move, to get out of the hellish growth of thorns and snagging black vines. His mind was in a panic but his instincts only drove him to run, to get free...

Finally, Alvin broke through and was once again in the clear. But the sunlight was not welcoming: it laid bare his convulsing, bloodied and barely breathing form. Jeanette, who had just run out moments earlier, covered her mouth and screamed in terror when she took in his crippled state. The others soon noticed something was wrong and their playful smiles melted into expressions of confusion and horror.

Alvin's vision began to blur as he saw the watched of his brothers and friends rush to his side. Their voices became faint and distorted, to the point where he couldn't tell who was talking to him anymore. The previously warm grass beneath him became stained with blood from countless lacerations and gaping wounds. He tried to call out to them, but his mouth bubbled with the metallic, bitter taste of his own fluids. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. Only then, would he likely escape the torture his body was under.

"Alvin!"

It was no use. He wasn't going to make it.

"Alvin!"

Why could he still hear them? Why didn't they just let him sleep, to rest?

"ALVIN!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

His eyes flew open, irises beady and erratic. They were met with a pair of blue orbs, staring back at him. Alvin gasped and sat up, nearly bumping heads with the pink-clad chipmunk hovering above him. He clutched at his sweaty body. No wounds, no blood. It was all just a dream. A horrible, sick dream.

Brittany eyed him cautiously, leaning back from him. "Er... you okay?"

"Huh? What?" Alvin coughed, rubbing the top of his head. Brittany's cynical reaction gave way to gentle concern. Gently, she rested a paw on his trembling leg.

"I asked if you were okay," Brittany repeated softly. Alvin looked away guiltily.

"Sorry about that," Alvin said sheepishly. "I'm alright. Just a bad dream."

"What was it about?" she asked.

"It's not important," Alvin said quickly. There was no way he was going to recount the disturbing dream. Besides, he would only make her worry. And she was a mess when she became panicked. "Really, it's nothing. Why'd you wake me up? Not that I'm not happy you did," he added with a dry laugh.

"Dave says we've been slept in long enough," Brittany pouted, folding her arms. From her expression, Alvin could tell that she didn't like the fact that he was hiding something from her. They never had secrets with one another ever since they had grown closer on that deserted island four years ago. Since then, they were like two peas in a pod, telling each other things they hadn't even told their own siblings. To know that he was keeping something from her hurt, but, mercifully, she decided to let it slide. "I don't see why we have to get up by noon on a Saturday. I mean, what's the big deal?"

"He probably said something along the lines of 'the early bird gets the worm', didn't he?" Alvin snickered, sitting up to stretch properly. He opened one eye to fully appreciate Brittany's appearance. As usual, she looked beautiful in her soft pink nightgown. It was clear she had every intention of sleeping in, same as him. "This is a lovely sight to wake up to..."

"Flatterer," Brittany said curtly, but she couldn't hide the smile that played on her lips. "Get up, you lazy bum. We might as well play a game or something until something decent comes on T.V."

"_Anything but tag!_"

Brittany looked back at him, utterly bewildered. "Tag? Huh?"

"Er – it's just that we always play that game," Alvin said, mentally kicking himself for overreacting. "I mean, we can find something else to play, right?"

"Sure, I guess," she said slowly, standing up and offering him her paw. "Come on. Everyone's already dressed and eating breakfast."

"Right behind you," Alvin said, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. When Brittany turned his back to him, he let out a heavy sigh.

Something told him today was going to be one of those days...

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Soon, Alvin and Brittany were dressed, fed and ready to start the day. They walked together to the backyard, where Simon, Jeanette, Theodore and Eleanor were waiting impatiently. Simon walked over and rolled his eyes at the pair.

"Where have you two been? We've been waiting forever," he snapped. Alvin rolled his eyes and pushed past his uptight younger brother.

"Chill out, Simon. We overslept on a Saturday morning. It's not the end of the world," Alvin grumbled. He sat on the lowest step leading into the garden. "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"How about a race?" Eleanor suggested. "Something to warm us up."

"I'm not that good at races," Jeanette said quietly.

Eleanor tutted and shook her head. "Oh, Jean. It's just for fun."

"A race sounds good," Brittany piped in, smoothing out her tail. She smiled at her counterpart, a familiar, mischievous spark in her eyes. "Bet I can beat you."

"Fat chance," Alvin shot back, already up for the challenge. "Come on, let's start!"

He led the group towards the bottom of the stone stairs. Looking over the various flowerbeds (courtesy of Claire), he pointed to the rose patch.

"First one to reach the roses and comes back to the steps wins," he declared clearly. The others nodded their heads in agreement. He smiled and licked his lips, crouching down on all fours. "Ready... set... _go!_"

In a flash, the six chipmunks made a mad dash towards the rose patch. Alvin quickly overtook his brothers and Jeanette, leaving them in his dust. They were never a threat. But Brittany and Eleanor were another story. Brittany, despite athletics not really being her thing, was still able to hold her own rather easily. Eleanor was currently in the lead, her athletic abilities proving themselves worthy in the game. Despite her chubby body type, she was a soccer star on the field. Alvin rounded the corner seconds after the two Chipettes, hoping to outmaneuver one of them.

"Oh, no you don't!" Brittany panted, cutting her eyes at him from the side. "If you think you're winning this race, you've got another thing coming, Seville!"

"You're not winning either!" Alvin snapped, motioning towards her little sister. "So what are you on about?"

"I'd rather lose to Eleanor than _you,"_ Brittany huffed, turning her nose up at him. As she did this, she didn't look where she was going and tumbled into the sunflower patch. Alvin broke out in hearty laughter as he watched Brittany sputter, covered in dirt and small leaves. Her cheeks reddened as she watched Alvin pass her. "ALVIN!"

"It's not my fault you're not paying attention!" Alvin called back teasingly, turning to stick his tongue out at her. Suddenly, he collided with a stone statue of a Greek goddess, falling back in a painful heap. _"...ouch."_

Eleanor giggled at their bickering as she easily kept up her pace and made it closer to the roses. She gently touched the stem of one of the flowers before backtracking. Alvin groaned softly as he ran past her. She was already halfway done! Refusing to give up, he touched one of the stems and raced back as fast as he could. Brittany was catching up fast, yet he was catching up with Eleanor just as quickly!

The three racers soon passed Simon and Jeanette, who were lagging a bit behind. Soon after, they came across poor Theodore, who was panting softly as he walked on his hind legs.

"Woo! Maybe Dave was right; I do need to go on a diet," Theodore said to himself, chuckling. He lifted his head just in time to see Eleanor running right towards him! He held out his arms in an attempt to get her attention, but she was too busy looking behind her to notice him. "Watch out, Ellie!"

"Huh – AHH!"

Eleanor slammed into Theodore and the pair went rolling into the patio table several feet away. They groaned softly as they tried to collect themselves. Alvin was about to rush over to see if they were harmed when he noticed a stone decoration wobble dangerously above them. He gasped and dove towards them, pushing them out of harm's way seconds before they were caught underneath the heavy object. The trio slid to a stop in the grass, desperately trying to catch their breathes. Brittany, Simon and Jeanette scurried to their sides, looking them over worriedly.

"Oh my gosh, is everyone alright?" Jeanette asked nervously, carefully pulling Theodore to his feet.

"Looks like everyone was crashing into things today," Simon chuckled, gently sitting Eleanor upright. Theodore laughed and took Eleanor's hand, who blushed shamefully.

"It's okay," he said kindly. Eleanor smiled at him brightly. "It was an accident. No one got hurt! Right, Alvin?"

Alvin shakily got to his feet, ignoring Brittany's attempt at helping him up. His eyes were glued to the ornament firmly planted into the ground. If he hadn't pushed them out of the way, Theodore or Eleanor could have been seriously injured.

Turning sharply to them, he glared at Eleanor and Theodore. The younger chipmunks flinched slightly from his furious expression and backed away when he stomped towards them, tail straight with anger and stress.

"You two could have been crushed!" he yelled, pointing towards the ornament. "If I hadn't pushed you out the way, it would've been a straight trip to the hospital! It's all fun and games until someone gets a fuckin' concussion! You guys need to be more careful!"

Eleanor, Theodore, Simon, Jeanette and Brittany gasped stared back at him, speechless. His anger deflated and turned into embarrassment and regret. What was he doing? This wasn't him at all. Since when did he go around lecturing others on how to be safe? When did he start cursing, especially at two of the most innocent chipmunks in the group? Why was he overreacting like this? He was losing his mind.

"I-I-I mean..." Alvin gulped, pulling at his collar. "You guys – er – need to watch out for stuff like that. Could get hurt."

"Alvin, there's no need to talk like that," Simon said, slowly recovering. He adjusted his glasses, preparing to go into know-it-all mode. "It's not like they would've died from something like that –"

"_Died!_" Theodore squeaked, eyes wide with horror. Eleanor quickly denied this, cutting her eyes at Simon and Alvin.

"Of course not, Theodore," Simon said apologetically, patting his little brother's back. "I doubt that would've happened. But still, Alvin was –"

"I was just worried, alright?" Alvin cut in. The others looked at each other uncertainly. Alvin sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, you're right. I'm sorry for going off like that. Let's just play something else. Something less... dangerous."

"Like what?" Brittany asked, folding her arms and staring at him pointedly. "What would be safe for you, Alvin?"

_Aw man, now she definitely knows something's up_, Alvin thought, biting his lip. Scrambling to answer her question, he hopped up.

"Chess!"

"Chess?" she replied blankly.

"Yes, chess," Alvin said, forcing a grin. He _hated_ chess. It was specifically designed to bore anyone who wasn't a nerd. But if it meant avoiding another possible injury, so be it. He walked over to Simon and Jeanette and put his arms around them. "These two are always going on and on about how fun it is. We should, you know... give it a try!"

"Are you serious?" Brittany scoffed. Alvin cut his eyes at her.

"Yeah, I am," he replied, smirking. "Problem, Britt?"

"Uh, _yeah!_ It's boring," Brittany said flatly.

"How would you know? You never even tried it," Jeanette said, shaking her head. Brittany rolled her eyes.

"Nobody wants to play that. Right?" Brittany said, turning to Eleanor and Theodore to back her up.

Theodore wrung his hands nervously, obviously still disturbed. "Alvin's right. It would be s-safer."

Eleanor gave his paw a comforting squeeze. "I'm game if he's game."

"It's settled," Alvin said, steering Simon and Jeanette towards the house. "Chess it is!"

Before he could even cross the threshold, Brittany yanked the back of his sweater. He rubbed his neck, glaring at her.

"What?"

"Alvin, what is going on with you?" she asked directly, hands on her hips. Her electric-blue eyes stared firmly into his golden ones, daring him to look away. He couldn't. "Something's wrong, I just know it. Tell me."

"There's nothing wrong," Alvin said coolly. Brittany narrowed her eyes. It was getting harder for him to keep up his poker face. "Really! I was just worried, that's all."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Finally, Brittany let out a sigh and brushed past him. "If you say so..."

"You worry too much, Britt," Alvin smiled, draping an arm around her shoulder. "Don't be so paranoid."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

_Author's Note: Fun chapter!_

_Alvin's definitely letting his fears get the best of him, slowly but surely. Brittany's sharp as a tack, though, so it's going to be hard for him to keep it from her for long._

_Hope you enjoyed it!_


End file.
